Portable support



H. MINTZ.

PQRTABLE SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3. 1920.

1,390,807. e s p 13,1921.

PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY MIRTZ, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

PORTABLE SUPPORT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 13, 1921.

Application filed June 8, 1920. Serial 1105386334.

To all 'wlwmz't may cancer-mi Be it known that I, HARRYMm'rz, a citizenof the United States of America, and

resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented new. and useful Improvements in Portable Supports, ofwhich the following 189 spec1- fication. 1 a

y This invention relates to portable supports and more particularly tothat type of support which is capable of being folded for transportationor storage.

The object of the present invention is to provide a foldable supportespecially designed for sup orting hammocks, which shall be of simp eand durable construction providing a stron and rigid support for ahammock suspen ed therefrom, and which maybe quickly and easily foldedinto compact form without making necessary the manipulation of screws orbolts.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompnying drawings,

in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the ortable support in itsoperative position rea y for use;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation on an enlarged scale of the upper portion ofsaid support illustrating a socket member used in the construction ofthe same; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the shown in Fig. 2. V

1 is a transverse frame member which ma if desired be formed of tubularmateria this, however, not being essential to the carrying into effectof the invention. Secured u n opposite ends of said member 1, aresoc etmembers 2, 3, respectively, said socket members being of likeconstruction and illustrated in detail in Figs. 2 and 3. These socketmembers comprise portions 4 and 5 which extend substantially at rightangles to one another, the member 5 being preferably of tubularconstruction and arranged to receive the end of the member, 1. For thepurpose of connecting the member 1 parts in fixed relation to the member5. the rivet 6 i or equivalent securing means may be employed. The part4 of the bracket is bifurcated to form divergent members 7, 8, saidmembers being herein shown as of tubular construction and adapted tohave seated within same, the upper ends of le 9, 10. The legs 9, 10 arenot fixed within t e tubular portions 7, 8, but may be readily withdrawn from the same at will. Each of the tubular portions 7, 8, whichform sockets for the ends of the legs, as described, is preferably ofsubstantially cylindrical form throughout the main portion of its extentbut, as illustrated in Fi 3, the interior wall of said socket adjacentits extremity and on that side adjacent the bar 1, is flared outwardlywhereby the diameter of the. socket at its free extremity is increasedin a direction substantially parallel to that of the bar 1. As a readymeans of securing this result the tubular wall of the. socket may bebent outwardly as shown at 12.

A brace 13 for connecting the leg 10 and the bar 1 is, as herein shown,permanently and pivotally connected to the respective parts at thepoints 14 and 15 and similar braces are in like manner connected to theother legs and to the bar. Connecting the legs of each pair at points asubstantial.

distance from the socket members 2, are braces 16, 17, pivoted as at 18,19 to one leg of each, pair and having hooked extremities 20, 21,engaging pins 22, 23, carried by the opposite leg of the respectivepairs whereby the braces 16, 17 may be disengaged from one of the legsof the pair and folded into a position parallel with the other legthereof.

The curvature of the inner wall of the sockets 8, 9, by bending thetubular Walls thereof as at 12, is such as to permit (afterdisengagement of the braces 16, 17) of the withdrawal of the upper endsof the legs from their respective sockets, the legs swinging about thepoints of connection of the braces 13 with the bar 1 and with the leg.By this arrangement of parts the legs may be withdrawn from theirsockets and swung in planes parallel to their respective braces 13 untilthey lie parallel to the member 1. The curvature of the open end of thesockets is such as to prevent binding of the upper end of the leg as itis withdrawn or inserted therein and it is found that this curvature forthis purpose must be of a varying radius, the exact form of curvedepending in each case upon the dimensions of the several parts.

24 is a lug extending downwardly from the socket member substantiallyaxially of the rod or bar 1, said lug serving for the proper positioningof a canopy member upon the top of the frame.

As shown in Fig. 1, the devlce is in posi tion for use and may haveswung from the frame member 1 a hammock or similar structure. When it isdesired to fold the frame up for transportation or storage it is merelynecessary to disengage the braces 16., 17 by unhooking the same, andthen to Withdraw the several legs from their sockets permitting saidlegs to swing into positions parallel With the bar 1. The sockets 2. maybe formed as castings or pressed from sheet metal as desired and it willbe readily seen that the device herein disclosed is of simpleconstruction, inexpensive to build and pro vides a substantial and rigidsupport for the purpose desired, While at the same time permitting ofbeing folded in a simple and expeditious manner Without the use of toolsand Without the necessity for removing any detachable parts. I

Having thus described a preferred form ofthe invention together with amode of use of the same, What I claim and desire to se cure by LettersPatent of the United States is: r

1. In a folding hammock support, in combination, a transverse framemember, a socket member carried thereby and having a substantiallycircular socket, a leg detachably engaging with the socket in-saidsocket member, and a brace member pivotally and permanently connected at'its" opposite extremities to saidframe member-and leg respectively,said socket being constructed and arranged to permit said leg to beWithdrawn therefrom by swinging said leg in a plane parallel to that ofthe brace.

2. A portable support having in combination a transverse frame member, asocket member secured to said frame member, a second frame memberconstituting a leg, said leg being normally seated Within a socket insaid member, and extending at an angle to said transverse frame member,and a brace pivotally and permanently secured at each end to thetransverse frame member and leg respectively, and extending across theangle therebetween, said socket adjacent its receiving end being ofincreased diametrieal di mension in the plane of said frame members.

3. A folding hammock support having in combination a transverse framemember, a

' socket device fixedly secured to said frame member and providing aplurality of angularly disposed sockets, legs detachably engaging saidsockets, braces having their opposite ends pivotally and permanentlyconnected to said transverse member and to the respective leg members,and a brace member extending between said legs, said sockets beingconstructed and arranged to permit said legs to be withdrawn therefromby swinging the same in planes substantially parallel to theirrespective frame connected brace members.

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts, this fourteenth day of May, 1920.

HARRY MINTZ.

